Creation Myth Ideas
In the beginning there was Chaos. Fluid, churning, unrelenting chaos. It spawned itself, ate itself, regurgitated itself and shat itself out; blending, reforming, flowing, roiling. Nothing remained constant for long. But as Chaos grew bored with itself, it spawned more interesting, more complex things; things with teeth and eyes. Things with tails and feet. Things with jaws and spines. Those lasted until Chaos grew bored with them too - no more than a few instants for most. They too were consumed, torn apart and reabsorbed into Chaos as it came up with new ways of entertaining itself. In the madness of Chaos's terrible creativity, ten beings were spawned. Seeing the insanity around them, they reached and called to one another, hoping for help against their destructive creator and together they forged a link through the boil of Chaos, resisting its attempts to reintegrate them into the maelstrom. Chaos was confused. Its creations were temporary; that was part of its nature. But The Ten resisted, forging a sphere of order about themselves that caused the multifarious tentacles of Chaos's fibers to grow grey and lifeless; sterile and drab - all power siphoned out of them by the sphere of order. Their creator raged and howled, beating itself on the sphere, which continued to expand relentlessly, harvesting the power of Chaos and channeling it into The Ten. Chaos grew cunning; adapting faster than thought. It created new beings, just like The Ten, who sought to rip the sphere asunder and savagely consume the beings within. But Chaos was too late. The Ten had grown too strong and they snuffed out the lives of the others, drinking their power and growing stronger still. Chaos mewled and retreated, but the sphere of order expanded to fill everything; Chaos had no escape. As the last twitching curl of Chaos stuff was absorbed by The Ten, they looked upon the infinite, empty void and wondered; what had they done? Even in its madness, Chaos had created. All The Ten had done was destroy. "We must build a place," said one. "A place of order," said another. "A place that blends and balances order and chaos," said a third. And so with the colossal energies gained from the defeat of Chaos, they set about creating a World. The Rings "Dad", Brian inquired, "What are those lights in the sky?" His father looked down at him and smiled, the doe-eyed boy innocently looking out toward the grand ring structure that spun and arced across the sky in a web of light. "Well, Brian, a long long time ago, before you were born, a great dragon used to roam this world. He was greedy and selfish, and adored anything that was lustrous. He hoarded objects that gleamed, glimmered and shined. The objects of silver and gold gave him pleasure, and so he took them. He stole from villages of men and women, he stole from the centaurs and the elves and the mole-men. He stole from anyone and everyone, all the while, he killed, burned, plundered and destroyed. He was unstoppable. For ten-centuries he roamed the lands, adding to his ever-growing pile of shining riches, and so he became fat and lazy. His greed, ultimately, was his downfall. One day, sitting atop his mound, this dragon slept. He only slept once a year, and only for a day, for he didn't need to sleep any longer than that. What he did not know, however, was that a brave hero from a nearby city had arisen and sworn to slay the beast - ending their misery forever. As the hero climbed the mountain which housed the dragon's riches, this hero - named Brian, much like yourself - found the dragon sleeping atop his mound of silver. Praising the gods for his good fortune, Brian laughed, openly and heartily. There was a problem, though. How could Brian kill the dragon? It was easily a hundred times his size and had a hide thicker and stronger than a steel-walled vault. Do you know what Brian did?" The boy looked up at his father in wonder. He was enraptured with the story. He shook his head quickly and his father continued. "Brian prayed to the Gods. He prayed to Aylamanda and Coryzith, to Jespar and Fetinide. Eventually, the gods heard his calls and sent him a spear of glowing gold of pure white, and told him that he could use it to kill the beast and save the people of his city. They warned him, however, that if he used it to kill the beast, his own life would be forfeit as well. He would die if he even attempted it. Brian thought for a moment. This is what we refer to as "Brian's Reflection". He laboured over his life and wept for the widow he would leave behind. But, ultimately, he decided that the sacrifice was worth it, and he thrust the gleaming spear into the dragon's heart, killing the dragon and ending his own life. His sacrifice was so brave that he was anointed an angel by the queen of the gods, Arenthyss. She took Brian as her husband and named him the king of the court of the gods. As an eternal reminder to the peoples who live on the planet, Arenthyss fashioned a ring from all the silver and gold and platinum that the dragon had hoarded and spun it into a vast web around the planet. And that, son, is where Brian's Ring came from." He indicated at the sky and the giant silver arch that swept across it. The boy gasped in wonder. Lava Ruins "The Melted Waste", our Paladin stated with a hard look on his face. It was like nothing that I had ever seen before. It seemed like something that the old cleric at Stone Church would describe during his fiery sermons. Liquid fire filled every crevice and smoke choked the desolate ruins. "Boy," the Paladin turned to me, "I'll be needing my armor now". I was too enthralled by the sight to dismount my small brown mare and fulfill his request. "Boy!" he barked, "it is not safe here. My armor. Now" "Sir," I replied, voice cracking, betraying my youth, "what is this place?" It was not the Paladin, but the old Druid, who answered. "It was once a city. A shining capital of a great and powerful kingdom". He paused, his face inscrutable beneath his salt and pepper beard. "It was ruled by many a great lord, and then by one who decided to be greater than the rest". "We don't have time for tales," the Paladin interrupted, drawing his long golden sword to punctuate the point. "It won't be long before the vile things that live her discover us". I dismounted and began unstrapping the large leather sack that contained the Paladin's shining white armor framed with gold. His armor must have been worth a small kingdom. The paladins of Dunheim, a kingdom high in the northern mountains, were renown for their extravagance and known even more for their skill at arms. "You see, boy," the Druid continued, "men are never content with what they have. They always want more. Such was true of this last lord". The Paladin looked at the Druid with disdain, letting out a grunt and muttering a curse, he dismounted from his great white charger. "Here," he spoke, "give me that sack". I handed it to him, arms trembling from the great weight of its contents. He took it in one huge fist and carried it a few yards without so much as a grunt of strain. He set it upon the blackened earth and began to remove its contents. "A worker of dark arts offered the lord a great power", the Druid continued as though he had not been interrupted. "He told the lord, who was still young and foolish-- not much older than you, that he could give him the power to cleanse his land of all injustice and misery". He paused again, his emerald green eyes shimmering in the smoky air. "Of course, the lord agreed, not realizing how strange it was to be offered such a great and magnificent power for nothing. The dark man gave him a small red gem and said, 'all you must do is hold this, and speak your desire and your lands will be forever free of the suffering of men'". The Paladin was more than halfway dressed in his shining armor. From somewhere within the smoldering ruins of the keep, a shriek emanated. It chilled me to the bone. It was not human. The shriek descended into a long, haunting wail. The Druid seemed unconcerned. "The lord took the gem immediately, and thanked the dark man, offering him wealth and riches. The dark man refused, saying that 'only seeing your lordship work with such great power is enough for this one'. Then the lord, with dreams of great deeds, held the gem up before his eyes and said, 'make my lands free of suffering, make them free from injustice and poverty, let them become empty of envy and greed'. The gem glowed and this city's fate was sealed". The Druid turned and looked me, a deep sadness in his eyes. "The gem did create a land free of all sins and vices, just as the lord wanted. It did so by destroying any and all who might commit those acts. It changed the land so that it could no longer harbor men. Men who are naturally greedy and hateful, but who are also kind and caring. Men who destroy but who also build great things and stand defiant against evils". The Druid seemed to shrink as the last of his tale echoed off the barren rocks. The Paladin, now fully garbed, grabbed his sword. "Come on now, let's retrieve this artifact, its powers are desired by our employers and it is not our place to question their purpose, only their purse". "How...." I spoke weakly, "how do you know all this?" The Druid did not respond for a long time. Then he spoke, so softly that it was almost inaudible, "because boy, we were all young once. We all have committed acts that we must live with the rest of our lives. It is a curse that we must make decisions knowing so little about how they will turn out." He paused again. "I only wish that I had known better".